Professional Liaison (15 page)

“I didn’t desert you, Melissa, but you obviously don’t believe me.”

He stepped back and took the warmth of his body with him.

“I love you. I’ve never loved another like I love you. Trust has to work both ways here, babe. You don’t trust me and I don’t know how to convince you.”

The urge to throw herself in his arms overwhelmed her, but her head overruled the reaction.

“If you decide to trust your heart, Liss, call me.”

He walked out quietly and shut the door behind him as she felt a hot tear slide down her cheek.

* * * *

Two weeks later, she stood inside Leathers with Mandy and Brad, the door of their private suite open and waiting.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Mandy asked.

Doubt flickered across her heart for a moment before she answered, “Yes.”

Mandy hugged her before she backed toward the door and with a quick backward glance, smiled and shut it behind her.

Air rushed from between her lips as she stood in the middle of the room, hoping she wasn’t doing the wrong thing. With a fortifying inhalation, she worked the buttons loose on the front of her blouse. She quickly striped down to nothing and took a submissive position on the floor, on her knees with her head down. Then she waited. Anticipation rolled down her back as she closed her eyes and tried to remember being held in his arms. A single tear rolled down her cheek as flashes of their last time together rolled across her mind. He had forced her trust with the anal plug. No one had ever been there before, but his considerate love had made the experience one she would forever hold in her heart. Capturing her bottom lip between her teeth, she remembered how he’d been there in the emergency room after she’d been shot.

Why did I ever think he’d left me? He said he loved me even then and I should have believed him.

Three days after the scene in the board room, Becky had stopped at her house and now as Melissa waited, the scene whipped across her mind.

“Why did you push Drew away?”

Melissa retreated into her living room and said, “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“The hell it’s not.”

“I appreciate everything you did for the company and I hope things haven’t completely fallen apart with Jonathan, but my personal life is my own.”

“Let me tell you something, Melissa. You are the smartest woman I know in the business world, but when it comes to men, you don’t know shit.”

“Drew did what he did for you.”

“How the hell do you know what’s between me and Drew?”

“He told me. During the long hours him and I spent together, he confided a lot in me.”

Jealousy reared its ugly head when Melissa thought of the petite blonde spending hours and hours with Drew.

“Nothing happened between him and me, Melissa. He loves you.”

“Whatever. He left me at the hospital in Flagstaff without ever saying good-bye. He walked away from what we had without a backward glance.”

“He didn’t have a choice.”

“What the hell are you talking about? He didn’t even call me.”

“He went out to the cabin to find clues as to who shot you. One of Jonathan’s goons hit him over the head and locked him in a cell under our house for a week. I’m the one who helped him get out so we could stop Jonathan.”

“Yes. Jonathan beat the hell out of him. When I helped him get out, his eyes were almost swollen shut, his lips were cracked and bleeding. Bruises covered his chest and arms where he’d fought the men who’d stuck him in there. He wanted to come to you then, but I convinced him I needed him to help me, and in the process, help you.”

Tears flowed freely now as Melissa sat on the floor in Brad’s suite. Thinking of Drew being hurt tore her heart to shreds, but the fact that it happened partially because of her, made her sob almost uncontrollably. She cried so hard that she didn’t hear the door open.

* * * *

The entrance to Leathers loomed in front of Drew when he stepped out of his truck. Pain had become a constant companion these days. He couldn’t seem to move on without the stubborn woman who’d tamed his reckless soul. Tonight, he needed a diversion.

Maybe I can find a submissive to top without any kind of commitment.
He ran his fingers through his hair.
Who the hell am I trying to fool? There is only one sub I want under me.

Loud music met his ears when he pulled open the door. The normal atmosphere surrounded him as he stepped inside. A few of the regulars waved when he moved further in and looked around. Surprise widened his eyes when he spotted Brad and Mandy in their normal spot in the corner, but he headed that way anyway.

“Drew.” The tone of his former boss’ voice gave him the impression he might not be welcome around them anymore.

“Listen. I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you while all of that shit was going down, but …”

“I’m not mad at you because of that, Drew. I’m pissed because you hurt Melissa.”

Mandy shot him a furious look too and he almost said something to Brad at her behavior, but he decided he probably deserved it.

I should have called her even though Becky and I were working together to stop the takeover.

“I know.” He slumped in the chair next to them.

“May I speak, sir?” Mandy asked Brad.

“You may, but mind your tongue, sub, or I may have to let Drew take the crop to you,” Brad answered.

“Yes, sir.” She turned toward Drew and asked, “May I speak freely, sir?”

He cocked an eyebrow, wondering what the hell she was up to before he answered, “You may.”

“You are a fucking dumbass!”

He blinked a couple of times, but didn’t say anything. Several of the Dom’s around them snickered, crossed their arms over their chests, waiting for the fireworks to start while their subs gasped behind their hands.

“You can take the crop to me or whatever later, Sir,” she said, addressing Brad before she turned back to him. “How could you do that to her? She gave you her heart and you threw it away without so much as a backward glance. You don’t deserve her.”

“Enough, sub,” Brad growled, tugging on her leash to bring her back to her knees at his feet.

Drew dropped his gaze to the floor for a moment before he looked at Mandy again. “You’re right. I don’t deserve her or her love, which is why I haven’t tried to contact her in the last two weeks. She doesn’t trust me anymore and God knows, I wish I could convince her of how much I love her.”

“Lord only knows, Drew, but for some reason, she’s decided she still loves you,” Brad answered, pinning him to the chair.

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s waiting for you upstairs in my suite.” The anger in Brad’s gaze, made him pause when all Drew wanted to do was race up the stairs. “Be the Dom you were meant to be and cherish her like she needs to be. Take care of her because if you don’t, you’ll answer to me.”

His breath rushed out on a deep sigh before he rose on shaky legs and headed for the stairs. Fighting the urge to rush inside, he stopped at the outer door and listened. Hearing deep, heart-wrenching sobs coming from within broke down his calm. He wanted nothing more than to push open the door, gather her in his arms and soothe the pain he heard in her tears, but he knew he couldn’t do that, not yet.

The quietly opened the door, slipped inside and shut it behind him before he took in the scene waiting. Melissa sat on the floor on her knees, completely naked in the pose of a submissive. Her sobs rocked her body and he knew she hadn’t heard him come in.

“Liss?” he said softly as he approached.

Her head snapped up and the pain he saw in her eyes drove home the torment he’d caused her. Without saying a word, she dropped her eyes to the floor again.

“You didn’t trust your Dom.”

“No Sir,” she whispered.

“Are you prepared for punishment that goes along with that admission?”

She stood on legs he wasn’t sure would hold her when she swayed slightly.

“Follow me,” he said expecting her to follow without question as he headed for the Saint Andrew’s cross in the corner.

I have to push her to make sure she does trust me.

Without a word, he positioned her where he wanted her and slipped her wrists into the cuffs at the top before he bent at the knees, pulled her legs apart and fastened her to the bottom so she faced the cross. Checking quickly for circulation, he paused with the fear in her eyes when he went around behind and looked in her face. He almost changed his mind, but he had to know.

She captured her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment; a gesture he knew showed her unease.

“Do you trust me not to hurt you?”

He cocked an eyebrow and waited.

She cleared her throat and said, “Yes Sir.”

“Good girl. You know your safe word.”

After a quick nod of her head, he walked to the wall where several floggers, paddles and other implements hung. He chose a multiple-tailed flogger off the wall and then returned to her side to find her eyes wide and sparkling with unshed tears.

“Ten swats with the flogger. That’s your punishment. You will count for me and ask for the next one.”

“You do not have permission to speak, pet, except to count and ask for the next one. You have your safe word. Do you understand?”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

The flogger swung and slapped over her ass, leaving a trail of red welts across her buttocks. She inhaled sharply and said, “One, Sir. May I have another, Sir?”

His hand trailed over the welts before he stepped back and flicked it again.

The flogging continued until the entire punishment was dealt, even though he caressed her ass cheeks after each well-placed flick of his wrist. He laid the flogger on the table and grabbed some lotion to rub on her sore behind. A soft hiss echoed in the room when he smoothed it over the red skin. “This will help with the soreness.”

When he finished, he bent down to unhook her ankles, softly bringing her legs back together as she moaned. Then he unhooked each wrist, gathered her in his arms and moved to the chair next to the wall. She snuggled up to his chest and buried her nose in his neck. It was a feeling he never thought he’d ever have again. Holding her in his arms had his heart swelling inside him.

Stroking her back with his hands, he asked, “Do you understand why you were punished?”

A quick nod of her head answered his question, but he wanted to her hear say it.

“Answer me, pet.”

Her eyes met his when she lifted her head and he had to fight the urge to kiss her until she admitted she loved him.

“I didn’t trust you.”

“Why are you here tonight, Liss? Why did you give yourself to me on the cross?”

“Because I trust you.”

“How did you come to that conclusion?”

“Becky came to my house and told me what happened and why you disappeared.” Her gaze dropped to his chin. “You told me you loved me and I should have believed that, but at the first sign of trouble, I distrusted you. I don’t deserve your love, but I needed to prove to myself that I still loved you. Giving myself to you, giving you control over my body and my needs by letting you punish me for my mistrust, proved that to me.”

Shifting off his lap, she stood and headed for the door, retrieving her clothes as she passed the tabled.

“Where do you think you’re going, little sub?”

* * * *

Three day later, Melissa sat behind the desk in her office, pounding away at the keys on her computer, working on the spreadsheet for the new business they’d just acquired. Her ass still stung from Drew’s punishment, but she felt better for giving into the feelings he stirred in her heart. She hadn’t seen him since and he hadn’t called. All she could think of was, he didn’t love her anymore and that’s why he’d let her walk out of the club that night without stopping her.

Glancing at the clock on her desk, she shook her head when she realized it was already seven o’clock, but the pile of paperwork on her desk mocked her with more work.

Shrugging her shoulders, she decided to continue working. After all, she didn’t have anyone to come home to.

A firm knock on the door brought her head up as a frown wrinkled the skin between her eyebrows.

Now, who the hell could that be? Everyone else left hours ago.

The knock came again and she grumbled under her breath as she stood and moved toward the door.

When she opened it, she came face to face with a very enticing chest — one she knew all too well. Deep brown eyes looked back when she raised her chin.

“What are you doing here?”

One broad shoulder leaned against the doorjamb of her office while as sexy-as-hell smile graced his enticing mouth. “I came to deliver a message.”

“A message? What kind of message?”

“One from someone who loves you and wants you to give into your feelings.”

“Loves me?” Her heart clenched.

“And who might that be?”

Sucking in a ragged breath, she turned and headed back for her desk. “I don’t have time for your games.”

When she faced him again, her heart dropped when she saw the beautiful bouquet of flowers he clutched in his fist.

“I’m not playing games here, Liss.” He stopped in from of her. “I love you. I never stopped loving you.”

“I’m not the right person for you, Drew.”

“Yes, you are. You’re perfect for me.”

“I couldn’t trust you not to leave me. I pushed you away,” she sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Pressing his fingers to her lips, he stopped the flow of words from her mouth before he wiped the tears from her face. “It doesn’t matter. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Raise babies with you, grow old with you.” He nibbled at the sides of her lips then slipped his tongue deep into her mouth as she moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck. When he lifted his head again, he whispered, “I want to bend you over your desk and fuck you until you scream my name, but I need to do something first.”

He stepped back and dropped to his knee in front of her. “Melissa Gordon, I know you are this all-powerful CEO of Marshall Enterprises and I’m nothing more than a construction worker, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Can you see past my lowly paycheck and marry me?”